Ups and Downs: Campus cops, gruesome gangs; and an unsolved mystery

Published: Friday, June 14, 2013 at 12:02 PM.

THUMBS UP to the bill signed by Gov. Pat McCrory this week which allows public access to information maintained by campus police affiliated with private and non-profit institutions of higher education. The bill sprang from a case in which an Elon University student journalist requested complete copies of a 2010 arrest and incident report. It pointed to a discrepancy in the public records laws in which municipal and county law enforcement and private campus police faced different standards for release of information. It’s good to be consistent, and open.

THUMBS UP to the Burlington Police Department for bringing back one of former detectives, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jay Smith, to work exclusively on the Allante Murray shooting case. Murray was killed at Robinson Park on June 12, 2008. The police have spent countless hours canvassing the area and chasing leads, but they also have other cases to follow. Smith can devote his efforts to trying to crack this mystery of why the 17-year-old was gunned down. “There’s a person who knows who’s responsible for it,” Smith said. “That’s the person, that’s the piece (of evidence) we need.” If you have any information on this case, please contact Smith at the police department.

THUMBS DOWN to a recent report that, according to the Alamance County Department of Social Services, 396 reports were received alleging abuse, neglect or exploitation of adults for fiscal year 2009-2010. Of these, 67 percent were 60 years of age or older. This is a disgrace to our community. Thanks to Alamance Regional Medical Center and Alamance Eldercare, a program about protecting our seniors will be held June 24 at the Grand Oaks Center. Call 586-4000 for more information or register online at www.armc.com

THUMBS DOWN to the pervasiveness of gangs within the schools, according to a recent presentation by Burlington police Sgt. Brandon Jones to the school board. He said gang activity is “in all the schools we’ve been in.” Most troubling is how young gang member are. It’s not unusual for a middle-school student to be involved and Turrentine Middle School is an especially active site. We agree with board member Pam Thompson, who called it “a very serious, deadly issue.”

THUMBS UP to some school personnel picked for their efforts as this school year drew to close last week. Alice Pulley of Graham High was named School Nurse of the Year, Kimberly Yarborough of Woodlawn and Pleasant Grove was named School Social Worker of the Year and Elaine Hall of Eastlawn was named the school system’s first Mentor of the Year.

And as long as we’ve talking about schools, let’s give a THUMBS UP to Tom Blevins, who is retiring after 32 years of teaching chemistry and physics at Southern Alamance High School. Blevins figures he’s taught between 3,000 and 4,000 students during his years at Southern. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, he also coached cross country and junior varsity basketball, so he influenced the lives of more students in those roles. We’d call that a great record.

THUMBS UP to recent Williams High grad Lana Waschka, who will volunteer again this summer at a youth camp in Croatia to provide counseling to landmine victims before heading to North Carolina State University in the fall. Waschka, 18, of Burlington has spent the last four summers in Rovinj, Croatia at EcoVillage working at the youth camp as a volunteer. She said many people there are still impacted by the injuries they sustained from the civil war that plagued Bosnia in the 1990s. Her mother is a native of Zagreb, Croatia. Waschka said she has spent time in the country every year since she was six months old and still has family there that she visits.

THUMBS UP to the bill signed by Gov. Pat McCrory this week which allows public access to information maintained by campus police affiliated with private and non-profit institutions of higher education. The bill sprang from a case in which an Elon University student journalist requested complete copies of a 2010 arrest and incident report. It pointed to a discrepancy in the public records laws in which municipal and county law enforcement and private campus police faced different standards for release of information. It’s good to be consistent, and open.

THUMBS UP to the Burlington Police Department for bringing back one of former detectives, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jay Smith, to work exclusively on the Allante Murray shooting case. Murray was killed at Robinson Park on June 12, 2008. The police have spent countless hours canvassing the area and chasing leads, but they also have other cases to follow. Smith can devote his efforts to trying to crack this mystery of why the 17-year-old was gunned down. “There’s a person who knows who’s responsible for it,” Smith said. “That’s the person, that’s the piece (of evidence) we need.” If you have any information on this case, please contact Smith at the police department.

THUMBS DOWN to a recent report that, according to the Alamance County Department of Social Services, 396 reports were received alleging abuse, neglect or exploitation of adults for fiscal year 2009-2010. Of these, 67 percent were 60 years of age or older. This is a disgrace to our community. Thanks to Alamance Regional Medical Center and Alamance Eldercare, a program about protecting our seniors will be held June 24 at the Grand Oaks Center. Call 586-4000 for more information or register online at www.armc.com

THUMBS DOWN to the pervasiveness of gangs within the schools, according to a recent presentation by Burlington police Sgt. Brandon Jones to the school board. He said gang activity is “in all the schools we’ve been in.” Most troubling is how young gang member are. It’s not unusual for a middle-school student to be involved and Turrentine Middle School is an especially active site. We agree with board member Pam Thompson, who called it “a very serious, deadly issue.”

THUMBS UP to some school personnel picked for their efforts as this school year drew to close last week. Alice Pulley of Graham High was named School Nurse of the Year, Kimberly Yarborough of Woodlawn and Pleasant Grove was named School Social Worker of the Year and Elaine Hall of Eastlawn was named the school system’s first Mentor of the Year.

And as long as we’ve talking about schools, let’s give a THUMBS UP to Tom Blevins, who is retiring after 32 years of teaching chemistry and physics at Southern Alamance High School. Blevins figures he’s taught between 3,000 and 4,000 students during his years at Southern. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, he also coached cross country and junior varsity basketball, so he influenced the lives of more students in those roles. We’d call that a great record.

THUMBS UP to recent Williams High grad Lana Waschka, who will volunteer again this summer at a youth camp in Croatia to provide counseling to landmine victims before heading to North Carolina State University in the fall. Waschka, 18, of Burlington has spent the last four summers in Rovinj, Croatia at EcoVillage working at the youth camp as a volunteer. She said many people there are still impacted by the injuries they sustained from the civil war that plagued Bosnia in the 1990s. Her mother is a native of Zagreb, Croatia. Waschka said she has spent time in the country every year since she was six months old and still has family there that she visits.

And THUMBS DOWN to the cancellation — due to a lack of entrants — of what would have been the 22nd annual Alamance County Body Building Championships. According to promoter Trish Ellis, the event has been a late-spring staple for two decades. Sadly, only nine people signed up to compete this year.